Will college athletes strike?

[quote name='dmaul1114']Sure. But the NFL should be paying for it's own minor league system for the 18-22 year olds to play in. Not having colleges do it for them and spending state money in many cases--only the top programs are self sufficient.

As for the NBA--agreed on the high school/one and dones. But not on the international players. Most of them--especially the guards--are more skilled. International basketball is europe is much more focused on team play, fundamentals like passing and shooting than in the US where it's more isolation and dunks from the street ball culture etc. Sure there are some busts like Darko. But there are plenty of people like Ginobli, Parker, Galinari (sp?) etc.[/QUOTE]

I think the logistics of things make it challenging for a football farm system too. Do they play in stadiums? If so when? You're already playing HS games a couple nights a week, college campuses aren't big fans of letting other teams use their fields with frequency. Basketball is easier to get gym time, especially if it's a summer league. Community college gyms can host semi-pro bball games. I'll bet there's a stat somewhere, but I would think that football has one of the highest percentages of 4 year players than other major college sports with professional leagues (basically baseball and basketball).

Not sure I fully agree with respect to international players being more skilled at younger ages. I think it's across all age groups. It's easy to point out the stars (or in Galinari's case, the slightly above mediocre), but it's easy to point out other international guys who have never really found their way, like Rudy Fernandez, Yi Jianlin, and a long list of others. Team play is more promoted elsewhere, but playing at an elite level of adult competition is hard to replicate without actually doing it.
 
[quote name='nasum']speedy,

I don't get the righteous indignation. Are college athletes being exploited if they're in a noteworthy program that has a higher chance of getting drafted? No. What they get as a benefit far outweighs the notion that they are being exploited.[/quote]
I think this is the root of our disagreement. I think it's in how we perceive what the player "gets" in college. If I can quickly characterize, I understand that you think players are getting free publicity (which they are), free tuition, room and board, and a stipend (all true). What I see is massive risk on the part of the player. I see injuries. How many college guys never make it cause they blow a *whatever* and never get that step back? When that happens, their sole marketable skill that made them special is over. Sure, they might be a decent physical therapy major, but their chance at the monstrous money is gone forever. That risk is just mindbogglingly huge to me as a business guy that hedges risk at every turn. There is literally no way for them to hedge that risk.

But that's ok because like berzirk and dmaul are pointing out, they are also getting taught their craft by the premier teachers in the game. So there's value there as well or guys wouldn't care about going to the SEC instead of Prairie View.

My problem is that the player holds all the risk and the NCAA reaps all the rewards in a totally sinister way. They actively prevent players from compensation above what the NCAA has decided, which is patently absurd and completely arbitrary and artificial from a market standpoint.

The NCAA literally makes the market. They are the ultimate vampire squid. They insert themselves in the middle the same way Goldman Sachs does. They hold the keys to the kingdom and you have to agree to be underpaid *and* to carry all the risk. The difference between what the players would be paid and what they aren't is what funds the NCAA. That is a conflict of interest that makes no bid contracts to Halliburton look like child's play.

If you cut the NCAA, the BCS, and the bowl system completely out and replaced it with a playoff and kids getting paid, you'd end up with exactly the same product on the field (because let's be honest, everyone pays already anyways) and a playoff system that would grip the sports world for a month. Instead we have this weird system set up by a middle man that just happens to take a super fat cut.

For the kids!
 
That's a good point, and one I didn't make clear enough before.

Don't discount that they're getting free professional training to help further their chances of making the NFL/NBA---top level coaching, strength and conditioning coaches (and access to top notch facilities) dieticians etc.


I definitely 100% support a playoff. College football will be a joke of a sport until they start deciding championships on the field. I'd have no interest in it if I hadn't grown up in a shithole rural state with no pro sports.

Anyway, my main issue is the NFL and NBA should be chipping in with funding since they're getting a free minor league out of colleges. Chip in, or start their own minor leagues like baseball does for the kids that don't give a shit about going to school and just want to play ball right out of high school.
 
[quote name='speedracer']I think this is the root of our disagreement. I think it's in how we perceive what the player "gets" in college. If I can quickly characterize, I understand that you think players are getting free publicity (which they are), free tuition, room and board, and a stipend (all true). What I see is massive risk on the part of the player. I see injuries. How many college guys never make it cause they blow a *whatever* and never get that step back? When that happens, their sole marketable skill that made them special is over. Sure, they might be a decent physical therapy major, but their chance at the monstrous money is gone forever. That risk is just mindbogglingly huge to me as a business guy that hedges risk at every turn. There is literally no way for them to hedge that risk. [/QUOTE]

Welcome to life. Ask anyone with a law degree whether they think they made the right decision 8 years ago.

Just because any of us has a risk of getting screwed by bad luck in the future, it doesn't justify overcompensation now.
 
[quote name='camoor']Welcome to life. Ask anyone with a law degree whether they think they made the right decision 8 years ago.

Just because any of us has a risk of getting screwed by bad luck in the future, it doesn't justify overcompensation now.[/QUOTE]

The sticking point here though is that big time sports colleges are making MILLIONs off these kids.

Including making money literally directly from them by selling jerseys with player's numbers on them and so on.

So I do get the ire some have over that situation. It wasn't a huge deal prior to the mid 80s when courts ruled that college conferences could negotiate their own TV deals etc.

Sense then it's all became a huge, multi million dollar business for major universities.

It is professional sports in all but name and the players getting paid directly.

So something really has to give here. Be it paying players, changing the laws to get back to college sports being truly amateur and forcing the NFL/NBA to start minor leagues etc.
 
[quote name='camoor']Welcome to life. Ask anyone with a law degree whether they think they made the right decision 8 years ago.[/quote]
My wife is doing just fine, thank you very much. :D
Just because any of us has a risk of getting screwed by bad luck in the future, it doesn't justify overcompensation now.
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What exactly makes them overcompensated? From what basis do you make that statement?
 
Not that this adds much to the conversation (but it is somewhat on topic) but I'm gonna say what I've always heard my dad , my boss and numerous other friends and co-workers say over the years whenever the topic of paying college athletes comes up. They all say that if college athletes got paid they would quit watching the games in an instant. They say that if they got paid they would become lazy spoiled wimps like the pro players are and that college sports would be no longer fun to watch since they would treat it like a job just to get paid rather than put their heart and soul into the game because they love it so much (somewhat paraphrased but you should get the idea).

Edit:Here's something I've been curious about , whats the ratio of student athletes whos primary aspiration is to go pro (ie they don't really care about a college education) vs those who are only really playing the games because they happen to be decent at them and are using that as a means to a (free/cheap whatever) education.
 
To the first, that's just BS. Pros sports are just as intense as college sports. Sure, there are a few super starts who get big contracts and slack off at times. But that's a minority. People who play sports at the highest level tend to be very competitive types.

To the second, that would vary greatly by school. At a top program like Texas or Florida or whatever, probably the majority of the scholarship players start out with NFL dreams. Some come to reality as they struggle in college football.

At a lesser BCS program the percentage would be smaller, and even more so at mid-major conference programs.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']The sticking point here though is that big time sports colleges are making MILLIONs off these kids.

Including making money literally directly from them by selling jerseys with player's numbers on them and so on.

So I do get the ire some have over that situation. It wasn't a huge deal prior to the mid 80s when courts ruled that college conferences could negotiate their own TV deals etc.

Sense then it's all became a huge, multi million dollar business for major universities.

It is professional sports in all but name and the players getting paid directly.

So something really has to give here. Be it paying players, changing the laws to get back to college sports being truly amateur and forcing the NFL/NBA to start minor leagues etc.[/QUOTE]

Be better if it went back to amateur (but that won't happen...)

[quote name='speedracer']My wife is doing just fine, thank you very much. :D

What exactly makes them overcompensated? From what basis do you make that statement?[/QUOTE]

By the fact that college sports are subsidized six ways from Sunday. You'd essentially be passing on a portion of those subsidies to the players. If you remove the subsidies from the game, remove my tax dollars out of the equation, then you can pay them millions, I don't give a fuck.
 
[quote name='camoor']By the fact that college sports are subsidized six ways from Sunday. You'd essentially be passing on a portion of those subsidies to the players. If you remove the subsidies from the game, remove my tax dollars out of the equation, then you can pay them millions, I don't give a fuck.[/QUOTE]
I don't disagree with the subsidy thing.

My only point would be to say that the bowls and NCAA are the ones making all the money today. All I'm doing is saying that if *anyone* is making money on the skills of these kids, it should be these kids.
 
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